Slashdot videos: Now with more Slashdot!

View

Discuss

Share

We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).

An anonymous reader writes "A report at SF Gate notes that 'The United States has lifted portions of two-decades-old sanctions against Iran in an effort to bolster communication between the country's citizens — and potentially aid organization against a repressive Iranian government. Thursday afternoon the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control authorized the sale of hardware and software that pertain to the Internet, instant messaging, chat, e-mail, social networking, sharing of media, and blogging — basically, all things digital. The Treasury Department wrote, 'As the Iranian government attempts to silence its people by cutting off their communication with each other and the rest of the world, the United States will continue to take action to help the Iranian people exercise their universal human rights, including the right to freedom of expression.'"

Do you have to pay extra to not have Stuxnet installed out-of-the-box?

Not if you accept advertising.

Wonder documents for democratic enhancement! Act now!

This little blue pamphlet changed my life! It can change yours too!

Do you suffer from low vote count?

Too tired to run from the secret police and government mobs? Not healing quite as fast? You may be suffering from low Freedom count.

Is an economic collapse coming from sanctions on nuclear activities? Read this to know how to prepare!"

Revealed: One weird trick that the Mullahs don't want you to know that you can use for more freedom and prosperity.

I quit my job at the Natanz nuclear centrifuge plant and am now working from home selling love tonic on the internet and have tripled by salary! You can too! I'll tell you how.

Moderately naughty full length Western night shirt style [amazon.co.uk] ankle revealing T-shirts with snappy slogans!: Bad government didn't end with the Shaw!I prefer my cranks on truck, not in governing council!Restore Persian glory! Out with the Ayatollahs!Why is it in Iran that Human Rights always seem to be wrong?Chop spending on missiles and Photoshop artists, not heads!Iran is a granola dictatorship: our leaders are nuts and flakes

You do realize this is simply a cold hearted attempt to bring Iran to it's knees. Hear me out....

- Iran is subjected to crushing economic sanctions. Their economy makes Newark, NJ look like a paradise on earth.- Now, Apple and Sony can dump their high priced, effete toys on a naive, unsuspecting populace.- Billions of dollars flow outward from the Iran economy which, heretofore, had been largely supported by itinerant photoshop interns.- Profit- Iran collapses in a heap of shiny trinkets!

If you take away the commercial aspect, that is pretty much what they want to happen.

They want the Iranians to see that not everyone lives in a medieval theocracy. Also, they want people to see that the US is not their enemy and that their leaders are messing with them and denying them liberties they could be having.

The hope is that they will then see who the real enemy is: their own government.

Of course, the shiny trinkets thing is also a distinct possibility too.

Whoops, you're correct. It was the Iranian people overthrowing the US puppet thirty years ago. I have coffee now.

The Shah wasn't a dictator any more than Queen Elizabeth II is a dictator. Iran was a constitutional monarchy (just like Canada and the UK), ruled by an elected parliament. Your own link says that the Shah fled the country during the coup because he was afraid the public would take a dim view of his actions, and only came back after the CIA had mopped up, and an American general had been disp

ha ha ha. If you think that Iranians aren't already fully aware of the way the "civilized world" lives, you're smoking crack. They know just fine. Coca-cola, Mickey Mouse, all that shit is (or at least was) commonplace. Had we left them the hell alone back in the 70's, things would have been a lot more America friendly over there. Hell, there might even be a Disney World - Prince of Persia theme park by now. The only reason they see us as the enemy is because we thought it was in our best interest to fuck with Russia by destabilizing that whole area. Mission fucking accomplished.

Yes, it would've been better to leave them to the Russians like with Syria and Iraq because they obviously became such Western loving bastions of freedom in the middle east.

It's quite possible that whatever happened it would've ended up a hatred filled shit hole. The absence of American interference doesn't always inherently lead to a peace loving forward thinking progressive nation, it's quite possible that it can be just as bad regardless.

They want the Iranians to see that not everyone lives in a medieval theocracy.

Guess what? They *already fucking know that* --- and they know the *reason* they are living in a medieval theocracy is American interference blowing away their secular democracy and installing a brutal right-wing dictatorship that made theocracy look like a good choice in comparison. You're an ignorant condescending prick if you think Iran isn't already a modern, technologically savvy country filled with people who know what's going on in the world (probably much better than Fox-News-watching Americans). Th

Okay, back in the 50's the Iranians basically put a social-democratic secular government in place who wasn't going to let US companies just exploit Iran without fair compensation and Iranian ownership of the resources.... US businesses were upset so they complained to the US government. Eisenhower got the CiA to give US corps what they wanted, The Shah who would let US corps do whatever as long as he got a cut. Cue 20 plus years of right-wing dictatorshi

Here's what happens with oppressive governments - they crack down on people organising to oppose them so sometimes the only people left that can meet in public are the religeous groups. When the oppressive government is overthrown the only groups with their shit together are those religeous groups. That's how the current situation in Egypt developed, and that's more or less what happened in Iran. The difference in Iran is that there was active culling of other factions that had been allied with them duri

...and they know the *reason* they are living in a medieval theocracy is American interference blowing away their secular democracy and installing a brutal right-wing dictatorship that made theocracy look like a good choice in comparison.

I doubt that many Iranians share your ignorance on the matter. If you know much at all about the history there, you know that the so-called secular democracy that was replaced consisted solely of the former Prime Minister who had dissolved parliament, was ruling by decree indefinitely, faked an election, and resisted the sole remaining check on his power - the right of the constitutional monarch to dismiss the Prime Minister. What you refer to as "democracy" was a simple dictatorship at that point. The real coup in Iran was the Prime Minister overthrowing the government. The counter-coup was restoring, not "instilling," the Shaw to power.

The Iranian people have clearly learned from the mistake of instilling the Ayatollahs into power, but the problem is remedying that. They ended up there in no small part due to the common interest that Muslim peoples have in instituting Islamic Sharia law, which they believe will resolve the common cultural problems in those regions, such as corruption. Unfortunately, it never really works out that way in the long term.

The Iranian people are just smart enough to know that welcoming Western megacorporate colonial oppression isn't the best solution to their "we have a sucky government" problem

That is nonsense beyond your bad history above. Corporations perform economic functions, not governing functions. They build trucks, mine ore, refine gasoline, can food, transport goods, run airlines, all that sort of thing. They don't elect governing legislative bodies, make laws, prosecute criminals, or make government policy. Economic activity versus government activity - they are different activities carried out by different groups in society. Although to truly prosper, a nation needs to get both activities right.

they've seen what partnering with America does to all the other countries we fuck over in the name of "economic liberalization".

It would be a shame if they turned out as well as Germany, Japan, Italy, South Korea, or various other countries, wouldn't it? Iraq would be in much better shape if Iran wasn't shipping arms to Iraqi Shia militias and using their Revolutionary Guards Quds Force (Special Forces) to stir the pot. That is part of the "sucky government" problem you refer to, and it bleeds over into other countries.

You're an ignorant condescending prick

I think you might be surprised to find out how big that club really is.

Exactly. I do not understand, why people think Mossadegh was kind of hero. He, for example, dissolved the parliament and demand dictatorial powers.
This is the problem with people nowadays. They are not critical. They believe whatever somebody that is a bit confident tells them without questioning them. Which is sad, and not something I expected of the internet generation.
It can also be discussed. According to many sources, Iranian and western, the coup against Mossadegh failed and did not happen. Instea

Considering we had a guy running for POTUS that was singing "Bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran" with a big shit eating grin on his face WTF does anyone here think Iran is gonna think of the USA? Not to mention the last time they had a democracy we murdered their leader and forced in the Shah so BP could get cheap oil on the backs and blood of all those murdered by our dear beloved puppet the Shah.

I wish those that just blindly wave the flag would take a look at the history of the CIA and US Military since the end of

Not to mention the last time they had a democracy we murdered their leader and forced in the Shah so BP could get cheap oil on the backs and blood of all those murdered by our dear beloved puppet the Shah.

Your history is way off there. The so-called secular democracy in Iran at the point in question consisted solely of the former Prime Minister who had dissolved parliament, was ruling by decree indefinitely, faked an election, and resisted the sole remaining check on his power - the right of the constitutional monarch to dismiss the Prime Minister. What you refer to as "democracy" was a simple dictatorship at that point. The real coup in Iran was the Prime Minister overthrowing the government. The counter-c

With respect to whatever you actually know of other topics, it's still not safe for mining exploration there and it was found decades ago (before 1980) by a Russian survey so you are very wrong in this case. What was new is a Russian company with the survey data attempting to do a deal with a US company so it came to the attention of the US press a few years ago.

As for your bits about Iran - no matter how flawed things were back then they haven't had anythi

The Shah was a monster, just as nasty as Stalin was to his people and we honestly DID NOT CARE as long as big oil got to do what they want. I wish i could find another copy of the map showing CIA and US military "interventions" since WWII because there was MAYBE a dozen countries on the entire planet that the CIA or US Military hadn't fucked with, it was pretty sad to look at.

Ike tried to warn us about this in the 1950s, about the rise of the MIC and the megacorps buying the US military and CIA to use as

Its not astounding, its fucking scary and evil as hell. You start looking into the history of the US military and CIA after WWII and you'll find false flags, terrorist actions, including those in democracies like Italy, hell the CIA helped the Contras sell crack cocaine to the black neighborhoods in the 80s when the congress cut off funding to the Contra "rebels" after finding out about their rape and death squads which to this day I still believe those in the CIA that helped the Contras should face a firin

You are supposed to give source for assumptions that you make. What did his secret police do to his enemies?
I will have to correct you one matter though. If by secret police you mean SAVAK I am sorry to break it down to you but SAVAK was not 'secret' by any means. It was the national intelligence agency just like CIA/FBI and MI5/MI6 or any other intelligence agency in the world with the purpose of defending Iran.

Fucking hell - what the hell do you think "secret police" means in fucking English? Of course I meant SAVAK and of course I meant the river of blood they spilled, and if people can't find out that information without a link they are not trying very hard.

Were you in Iran at that time? Did you see SAVAK spill any blood? I am not saying they were saints. No intelligence agency in this world is, for example both CIA and SIS are very famous for their brutal operations and all the lives they have destroyed.

I am still waiting to know exactly how SAVAK spilled blood though. There is, sadly, a lot of FUD abot SAVAK, especially for foreigners. Have you forgotten that the winners write history?

It was all over the news for years and is undeniable.Which raises the question here, what exactly is your motivation for such revisionism? Why are you pushing this line so hard in opposition to general knowlege and now history? What exactly is this revealing about your nature and morality?There's a book called "Animal Farm" by George Orwell that has some messages for you presented in an unsubtle way.

Stupid revisionism by kids that don't know there's probably Iranian refugees from that time in their own home town aside, the major lesson to take home from Iran is that when you revolt against monsters you have to be really careful that you don't replace them with another.

News is never, ever a good source sadly. Many things have been in the news, but the truth has later came out. Let me give you an example. During the revolution, someone locked the doors of a Cinema in Iran (Cinema Rex) and put it to fire. Everyone inside it died and they could not escape. Everyone blamed it on the Shah. Years years years later, despite "general knowledge" as you say, and despite news saying it was the Shah, it was revealed that it was in fact Islamists loyal to Khomeini and his clan that se

News is not always a good source sadly. Many things have been in the news, but the truth has later came out. Let me give you an example. During the revolution, someone locked the doors of a Cinema in Iran (Cinema Rex) and put it to fire. Everyone inside it died and they could not escape. Everyone blamed it on the Shah. Years years years later, despite "general knowledge" as you say, and despite news saying it was the Shah, it was revealed that

In all of my text, all you can comment is that part? You didn't say anything about the other parts, because you don't want to change your mind. You are probably feeling uncomfortable now knowing that what your american sources are telling you might be wrong.

Winners do write history, two posts above you wrote that "history" says so - now it's too recent to be history? History does not have to 1000 years ago. What happened yesterday is history.

"Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy", namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to H

. Thanks for once again showing the imperalist ideas that exists in your nations, then you wonder why people dislike you. Always imperalists.

The imperialists, back when the UK and USA acted a lot more like Empires than they do now, put the Shah on his throne FFS! Are you doing this backwards bullshit deliberately or are you really that stupid?

Ohh! You've wheeled out Galileo! A common trick of those that see themselves as misunderstood. Well you've missed something else there and once again don't understand the subject matter. With Galileo he directly challenged the authority of the Pope and went as far as ridiculing him - until that point the Copernican ideas were not seen as "heresy", and after that point not all Cardinals agreed either.Perhaps you should consider that you may be incorrect on other matters. Maybe talk to somebody that was i

They did not put the Shah on his throne. What they did was forcing his father [Reza Shah the Great] to abdicate - again, imperalists.

Even today you are imperalists. But you don't have the balls to say anything about USA or UK, much worse than the Shah. Only reason for that is probably because you have the same imperalist thinking in your head and want to bash on other nations who challanged yours.

How funny - some stupid American kid who had no idea I don't live in the USA or UK is taking the official US state department line at of the time (which had little relationship with reality and was soon abandoned) and calling me an "Imperialist".I've wondered all along whether you are just pretending to be stupidly obnoxious to get a reaction but have played along because I'm curious as to whether you really do believe the shit you are spreading.

I wouldn't be surprised if other things are saved as well. Facebook posts, emails, website history. Huge databases of everything about you, your political opinion etc probably even exists too. When they are collecting it all, and lying that they are not...especially in a "democratic natio

Dude you better pray to whatever God you believe in that the USA don't go bankrupt, because the last time a highly nationalistic military leaning country went bankrupt it really didn't end too well for most of Eastern Europe.

The scary part is as we saw with the flimsy as hell WMD excuse it really don't take much to get Americans into a pro-war stance, as long as the press is beating that war drum and selling it the people WILL buy it. The way the ultra right has vilified South America honestly it wouldn't

The above has been happening for a while. Now it's a bit of a race to see if the NBA loving younger generation gets into power before the geriatrics running the place get hold of nukes.Iran is an interesting place politicially, more of an attempt to be benevolent but stifling "nanny state" than medieval, but most definitely a theocracy despite the bleatings of their loud idiot puppet president. Due to the vast majority of the population being young and control being currently in the hands of old men it's

The computing technology sanctions were doing exactly what the Iranian regime wants, that is to prevent average Iranian from uncontrolled access to information. They filter the web, ban VPN services, limit home Internet access to a maximum of 128Kbps. When people are already sanctioned by their own government, better not to add to that.

The computing technology sanctions were doing exactly what the Iranian regime wants, that is to prevent average Iranian from uncontrolled access to information. They filter the web, ban VPN services, limit home Internet access to a maximum of 128Kbps. When people are already sanctioned by their own government, better not to add to that.

One thing that I'd be more than a trifle concerned about is exactly which American tech outfits are lining up to do some exportin'...

We certainly have some fine folks on Team Freedom; but we also have a massive list of spook shops and 'lawful intercept' outfits who are delightfully service oriented when it comes to assisting customers with achieving their compliance goals, so to speak...

I'm all for Iranian citizens getting tor and PGP and friends; but I wish them luck when their government responds by inkin

This particular order seems to continue banning export of that stuff because it's all commercial-grade, and possibly also banned by the lists of specific things from some other laws or orders, which I didn't read but are not superseded by this one.

I don't see how this solves anything. If the users can have access to VPN/encryption to communicate, the government can now also buy network devices with advanced features such as Deep Packet Inspection or Lawful Interception or Man in the Middle - anything Next Generation Firewall can do, or dedicated devices can do better. Since they are the government they can easily push their own certificates so you wouldn't even know they do MitM unless you look very closely (not many people do).

They already have those, as stated in another post. In fact, their MITM attacks are so sophisticated, certain attacks directed at specific targeted individuals have used certificates obtained (at considerable cost) via the compromise of certification authorities, if you recall - notably DigiNotar, although three others have been involved to date, one of which is widely-affiliated.

I was reading an opinion piece which I cannot find now, but they suggest that the reason is more or less to make throw away technology available to get around liabilities due to that kind of thing.

I guess the underlying root of this is that Iran had an election a few years ago where smart phones and wifi relays were used by people to contest the elections and report on what they seen. Trying to flood the market with cheap as well as expensive technology will make the government's job of sniffing on these ac

Blue Coat will never be approached, as they sell their product to the US Government for use in many three-letter agencies. Either the US Government is forcing Blue Coat to have a back door, or the USG doesn't want Blue Coat to pull their license for 90% of government firewalls.

This change specifically continues the ban on commercial grade services or equipment and in particular does not supersede any specific bans from other orders or laws. In and of itself, it doesn't give a pass to Blue Coat et al.

They're going to have to allow the export of high-grade encryption to Iranian customers. Otherwise they're just inviting the regime in Tehran to oppress anyone who tries to use this technology for the purposes specified in the OP...

To: CiscoFrom: IranSubject: OMG HELP!Body: Dear kind sirs of Cisco,My name is Barrister Allahu Akbahara Salami Mozambique. I am trying to install your router system here in order to oppress my population in the name of Allah. However, I have been trying to change the root password for your switch. Whenever I try to telnet into it, the welcome message says "America, Fuck Yeah!" and plays a strange intro song. At the same time, all of the webcams, printers, faxes, document scanners go completely haywire and my network traffic spikes.

Also, I have a large inheritance that I believe is meant for you. Could you send me your bank account information so that I may deposit a sum of 89 billion rial ($18 US) into your account?

Hmmm... One would think the ability to insert more eavesdropping and spying capabilties ("hidden features?:>) ) may be more the reasoning behind something like this. Perhaps another bonus gift inserted into the software, hardware, or microcode, like Stuxnet [wikipedia.org] did?

Well, now it's OK to sell " hardware and software that pertain to the Internet...basically, all things digital" I guess the flights to Iran will be full of salesmen.Of course, big business will be taking care that the right stuff will not fall into the wrong hands, eh?After all, look what happened last time.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Contra_Affair#Indictments [wikipedia.org] Oh wait, looks like they all got a presidential pardon...

Meanwhile, I'm sure that the regime in place will continue to control access to everyth

Do US citizens get some sort of sick twisted feeling of satisfaction from this?

"Blame the victim" is SOP in DC. Most Americans would prefer sugar in their Coke and premium cigars but they're too complacent to do anything about it. Neither the gang nor its subjects care much about the people of Cuba, though there are certainly exceptions.

Do US citizens get some sort of sick twisted feeling of satisfaction from this?

Most of them never think about it at all. Anymore than most Cubans think about traffic problems in Nashville (not to imply that there ARE traffic problems in Nashville - don't really know, since I haven't driven through Nashville in ten years) on a regular basis.